


Unchanged

by venom_for_free



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (Timetravel), Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon Related, Drama, Emotional Hurt, Feels, Love, M/M, One Shot, Regret, Supernatural Elements, Unreliable Narrator, Yuri wants him back, he is ready to pay the ultimate price, relationship, they broke up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27288040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/venom_for_free/pseuds/venom_for_free
Summary: Yuri sighs. He steps forward, takes the little necklace on the table, and tilts it back and forth. Was it worth half of his savings? Probably. If it works, it was worth more.He shakes it, and even though it's tiny enough to hold it between his thumb and forefinger, it rattles as if he's moving a car.Technology these days is ridiculous. Yuri bites his lips and looks over the table. If this goes wrong, that’ll be it. He won't get back his money or his life. That's the thing with purchases from the black market; you never know what you'll get.--Or: After they broke up, Yuri decides he will do everything to get back with Otabek, even if it means traveling time with untested technology. He pays dearly for it.
Relationships: Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky
Comments: 13
Kudos: 23
Collections: Otayuri Week 2020





	Unchanged

**Author's Note:**

> Otayuriweek 2020, Prompt: Past/Future   
> Please mind the tags.

Yuri sighs. He steps forward, takes the little necklace on the table, and tilts it back and forth. Was it worth half of his savings? Probably. If it works, it was worth more. 

He shakes it, and even though it's tiny enough to hold it between his thumb and forefinger, it rattles as if he's moving a car. 

Technology these days is ridiculous. Yuri bites his lips and looks over the table. If this goes wrong, that’ll be it. He won't get back his money or his life. That's the thing with purchases from the black market; you never know what you'll get. 

On the table are his last letter, a calendar he marked, and a ring. It's been a while since Yuri has worn it, but it's still his most favored possession. He slips it onto his finger and sighs. Chances are, this will kill him. But what is he living for, anyway? 

Yuri twists the tiny knobs until the date is right. The day they fought. The day when he lost his privilege to wear the simple gold band. He doesn't know how the technology works. He should care more, but at this point, Yuri has nothing to lose. So he checks the date. 

30th of October 2026. One day before Otabek’s birthday.

Then, Yuri presses the little activation button, and before he can even think twice, he's  _ back.  _

Yuri looks around. He needs a fucking mirror right now. If he is where he thinks he is, there will be one in the bathroom. Yuri hurries over, but on his way, he trips. Too much haste, too much stress. 

His ankle twists and it stings when he moves, so it must be real. Long hair flails around him, hair he cut off last year because it reminded him too much of a different time. The ring is still on his finger. 

It worked. 

"OTABEK!" Yuri rushes down the stairs but stumbles again, as if he doesn't know how to pilot his own body, now that he's fit and healthy once more. "OTABEK!" But the apartment is empty, Otabek wasn't at home that day. He was at the rink. 

Yuri can wait. Yuri will wait. He walks through the room, organizes a few documents, watches a show. It's a few hours until the front door opens. The necklace shines a red light against the inside of his shirt, but Yuri doesn't care. All he cares about is Otabek. 

He wants to jump into his husband's arms, be happy, feel like himself again. Otabek has the ability to make Yuri forget he is not perfect. But Yuri is rooted in place when Otabek's angry face rounds the corner. There's no greeting, no happiness, just exhaustion, and anger. Yuri spins around. "Hey! Aren't you going to at least say hello?" 

Otabek turns, slowly, his lip in a sneer—Yuri's necklace turns hot, hot,  _ hot _ ! He screams, screams and opens his eyes in front of the table again. 

There's his letter, there is the calendar. There is no ring; he’s still wearing it. Yuri puts it back on the table. It's windy outside, and his apartment is dusty and grey, unlike the house he had been in just moments ago. 

But the divorce was expensive, and neither of them was left with much. Yuri shivers, now covered in cold sweat. The necklace doesn't react. 

Fuck. 

Yuri finally looks up the instructions. He has to charge the fucker, and apparently, he can't stay for long?! And the further he travels, the shorter his stay. He can't decide his exact arrival time, and he can't go to the same day twice. Fuck. Okay. Good thing he wasted the most crucial chance he had on sorting mail. He hopes past Yuri was grateful. 

Maybe the day after the breakup. But even after twenty-four hours on the charger, the thing doesn't react. Yuri finds out it needs another incentive to start when he cuts his finger two days later, and some blood gets on the necklace. It purrs, green light springing to life. Oh, wow. What ridiculous Halloween witchcraft movie does this bullshit come from? 

Doesn't matter if it works. Yuri sets the date and dials again. A strange sensation tugs on his mind, as if something gets twisted that shouldn’t be. He comes back to himself and his table, still stuck in the poor excuse of a former athlete's body he inhabits now. He’s a ghost haunting his own vessel. 

A quick search in forums he would rather not be in shows that he shouldn't get too close to already visited dates. Yey. So every time Yuri goes back, he reduces his chances? And he doesn't know how far the distance between the two dates has to be. Fuck. It's almost as if one shouldn't buy barely tested black market time-traveling technology. He clears his browser history, even though that changes nothing, and tries again. 

13th of August 2024. The day after their wedding. 

Yuri wakes in their hotel room, looks left and right. There's Otabek next to him, asleep like a baby. And he knows the necklace is fully charged, so Yuri lies there and watches. Otabek is beautiful. He's younger, still, but not by too much. They crashed and burned fast. 

He reaches out and touches the stubble. It makes him smile when Beka presses into his hand, even in sleep. What can he tell Otabek? What can he say that avoids this disaster? 

In the end, Yuri falls asleep before he finds answers. It's the first time in months he actually sleeps well. When he wakes, it's because the necklace tries to burn itself into his body. It's hotter than before, and Yuri gasps for breath when he comes to. White slithers around the corners of his eyes. 

Shit, he's so exhausted, even though all he did was sleep. And still, Otabek lingers in his mind. 

The next two days, he rests. The necklace charges, and he plucks it off the cable when the yellow light turns off. He walks back to the table, looks over it. There is a letter, a ring, and a calendar. 

Yuri dribbles blood on the necklace, but nothing happens. He squeezes his bleeding finger harder, and finally, the light returns to it. Weird. Was that more blood than before? 

And can he even change the past? So far, he's been remarkably useless. Maybe, if he does something new … 

5th of March 2019. The week of his eighteenth birthday. 

When he opens his eyes, he's momentarily blinded by the sharp stabbing sensation in the front of his head. The rest of his body is numb, but only for a second. Then, the time change catches up with him, and Yuri feels fitter than ever before or after. 

He's at Lilia's apartment, and it's cold outside. Yuri grabs a jacket, his wallet, phone, keys, and runs off. 

He finds a tattoo parlor. His coaches will kill him for it once they see it, but Yuri needs to know. He demands a tattoo right now, no matter how small. Yuri has money. He has time. The dude tells him to come back in a month, but Yuri can't, literally. So he flashes his fame, even though he hates it, and promises to promote them. 

Suddenly there's a free time slot, right now. So Yuri gets a bear tattoo on his hip. And it hurts as much as he expected it to do when tiny needles stab him repeatedly. But it also feels satisfying. He keeps texting Beka about it, sends photos of the little thing. Otabek seems excited. 

But once he's home and settles on the bed, his necklace glows red. It's as if a volcano erupts in his chest, pain spilling out of him in waves. And for what? Yuri wakes, and everything is the same. There's a cup of coffee on his desk, a letter, and the ring. When he lifts his shirt, there's only the bear tattoo that's always been there. 

So he can't change things in the past. Interesting. 

Which means he should probably just enjoy himself, right? He huffs, charges the thing for half a day, and fills a tiny bowl with blood to submerge the necklace in, at least partially. That might help. Maybe it was never the charging time; perhaps it was the blood all along. 

Yuri spitefully slams in the coordinates of the day Otabek and he decided to find out how often they could cum without dying. 

5th of April 2020, off-season. 

Yuri screams, but not from pleasure. He's bathed in agony, and Otabek stops immediately. "NO! CONTINUE!" Yuri pleads, whimpers; he hasn't felt that good in quite a while. Even if it hurts. Especially when it hurts. 

He can't change much on this day but was never the plan. He just wants to be happy, to indulge himself. He tells Otabek he loves him, and Otabek says it back, without any hesitation. There's warmth in his voice, and Yuri wants to cry. 

He does cry, two hours later, on his living room floor. Because whatever he does, it just keeps tormenting him. And nothing he changes makes any impact. With enormous effort, he drags himself upright. 

His table looks the same, the exact fucking same as it did when he started. There's the old coffee cup, his letter, the ring and a vase with wilted flowers. He's powerless. 

Yuri drags himself to the bathroom while the necklace charges. And there he is. His long, golden hair hanging lifeless and broken, just like the rest of him. His skin is ashen, his eyes sunken in. Yuri stares into a mirror and sees a junkie who has lived on the street for years. He smiles, but there's no happiness. Not without Otabek. 

And what do junkies do? They chase the next kick, pursue the next best thing they can. He lets the necklace charge, but once it's ready, Yuri rips it from the cord. He opens a wound in his arm and presses the necklace to it. 

23th of January 2026. Somewhere between his marriage and his breakup. He doesn't care anymore. Yuri wants to be anywhere but here. 

When he blinked his eyes open, the necklace is already orange. Fuck, he charged it! He charged it correctly! But he can't change a thing, and he doesn't have to, because Otabek is kneeling over him. 

"YURA? What's going on? You're awake! Shit, Yura, you just … you fainted! Out of nothing!" 

Ah. So the necklace was charged, but the pain knocked him out. Funny. Yuri blinks and cups Otabek's face. He doesn't know what day this is in their timeline or where they are supposed to be. He just knows he's weak and so in love, but also full of sorrow. 

"Beka … I love you so much. I love you more than anything, and I don't say it enough, but I know how much you do for me. You're the best thing that ever happened to me and … even if I'm complicated, please don't forget I love you. I wish I could be better for you. Please let me try. Please let me try every day. Just be a little more patient with me, just a little longer. I love you so much." 

He doesn't get an answer because the world turns white when Yuri's nervous system gets fried.

As he wakes, he’s on the bright hardwood floor of their house. Blood is seeping out of his arm, but he’s lighter now. He doesn't understand why. 

When Otabek runs down the stairs, throws himself on the floor, and raises Yuri into his arms, muttering and pleading with him, kissing him and begging him to stay with him, Yuri smiles with bitterness. 

Nothing changed. Everything was for nothing. He blinks up at desperate, big brown eyes, begging Yuri not to go. When he raises his hand to cup Otabek's face, more blood pours out, and his grasp on consciousness slips again. 

He did all he could, but in the end, it didn't matter.

He still lost Otabek. 

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, if you made it till here you really like to see Yuri suffer, huh? Same.  
> Please let me know what you think! ♥
>
>> Thank you, as always, to my wonderful editor [Taedae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taedae/pseuds/Taedae), and to you as the reader.  
> I'm also on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/venom-for-free)[, Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/venom_for_free/) or [Twitter](https://twitter.com/venom_for_free)


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